Art

[Life Is Beautiful 2014]

Life Is Beautiful: The good, the bad & the weird from day two

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OutKast sent streamers flying during their day two closing set at Life Is Beautiful 2014.
Photo: Powers Imagery

The Good

Watching Questlove join chef Donald Link for a chicken and dumplings cooking demo. The Roots drummer and Tonight Show band leader is entertaining in any role, and he and Link—a Louisiana man specializing in Cajun and Southern food—seemed to have a real rapport onstage at Container Park Saturday. The two chatted about family recipes and their shared passion for music (Link said he saved two keepsakes from his Hurricane Katrina-ravaged home: a guitar and a cast-iron skillet) in what proved to be an endlessly entertaining session. –Spencer Patterson

Favorite LIB-themed shirt: "Kanye & Dave & Andre & Antwan & Sonny & Lionel. I'll let you decipher. –SP

Security with a sense of humor. As I walked up for my pat-down, the security woman said, "Turn around. Now twerk." –Sarah Feldberg

Lao Sze Chuan's Three Chili Chicken Easily the most memorable thing I've eaten inside the fence line this weekend, and a decent deal for $9, paired with a helping of tasty noodles. But beware: The noodles are nearly as spicy as the mouth-numbing chicken. –SP

The Music. So much better than Day 1. The crowd was buzzing like it was last year all over again. The back-to-back-to-back I saw—J. Roddy Walston & The Business, The Roots, Lionel Richie—might have been the most consistent run of good music I've caught at either LIB. –Jason Harris

A serpent hands Saesha Herrell a pomegranate containing a secret message  from the happiness tree on the opening day of the Life is Beautiful Festival in Downtown Las Vegas Friday, October 24, 2014.

A serpent hands Saesha Herrell a pomegranate containing a secret message from the happiness tree on the opening day of the Life is Beautiful Festival in Downtown Las Vegas Friday, October 24, 2014.

Biff Tannen! I had a fun chat with Thomas F. Wilson, everybody's favorite antagonist from the Back to the Future films. Real life Biff is as funny as the character. When I asked him about his LIB experience, he exclaimed, "I find it strange that an entire festival is based on a Roberto Benigni movie." –JH

The award for best fest beard goes to: TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone. Runner up: OK Go's Tim Nordwind. "Every night I bury my nose in Tim's beard for 10 seconds," lead singer Damian Kulash said on the Downtown Stage. –SF

The Lionel Express. Every half hour, a group of beautiful women wearing LIB shirts and a man pulling a giant speaker lead an everyone-is-welcome conga line from the Downtown Stage to the Ambassador Stage, to the tunes of Lionel Richie. How can you not love that? –JH

The Bad

Overheard near craft beer stands: "The Roots are playing right now, but any time I want them I can watch them on TV." That is not the same thing at all, guy who totally missed out. –SP

At the end of the Jonathan Waxman/Nancy Silverton chef demo, seven audience members were invited to try the food. What a tease! How about preselling tickets that include the chance to try the demo'd food? The chefs will know how much they have to prepare well ahead and the fest can charge extra. And we can eat the food! –JH

The absence of the risers from the Downtown Stage. Last year I was able to get to the top of a large perch near the side of the stage. It gave me a great view of the bands and the entire crowd. This year it's nowhere to be found. –JH

Hidden away next to an outcropping of food trucks, few people are venturing into last year's Art Odyssey hotel, where Irish artist Maser has created a whimsical world of colorful stripes. Go forth and take selfies. –SF

The Weird

José Andrés' solar tacos. The concept—cooking powered by the sun's (plentiful) rays—is cool, and I was happy to support the cause. But when I walked up, plunked down my $10 and was asked to choose my three taco fillings, I realized something important was missing from the process: meat, a shock considering Andrés' meat-loving pedigree. I ended up with 1. swiss chard and bean, 2. baked potato and 3. sweet corn, and none of them sucked, but they left me hungry and with the sad realization that apparently, solar cooking has its limits. –SP

Pictures of Me Taking Pictures of Me. Local filmmakers Jerry and Mike Thompson were assigned to film as much art as they could. When I told them about the best place to take a selfie from Day 1, Mike followed me there, then photographed me as I photographed myself. Life imitating art? Art imitating life? Something imitating something. –JH

LIB misspelled Fremont as “Freemont” upon the initial releasing of the festival footprint. They corrected it some hours later, but fast forward to yesterday, when their social media genius made the same flub during a Facebook post about organ donation. Simply embarrassing. –Mike Prevatt

Hot Air For some reason, the Hendricks Gin display features a hot air balloon without the balloon being inflated. –JH

There was supposed to be something unique to LIB going on at the geodesic dome in front of the Container Park. But when I stopped by each day it was closed, and the security guarding it had no idea when it might open next. –MP

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